The difficulty of swordsmanship, honed over years by the Li family, ultimately tipped the scales; their disciple emerged victorious, securing two consecutive wins.
The Dragon family disciples suffered defeats, their faces clouding over, while the Li family members were all smiles, a sentiment shared by the Hu Yan and Hua families as well.
The Li family’s success meant their contingent was winning.
“Long Zhigao!”
Long Zheng shouted out, and a young man seated nearby immediately rose, leaping onto the platform in just a few strides.
Long Zhigao was twenty-four, slightly older than the Li family’s previous contestant. He was also at the early stage of the Second Layer, and he had supplementary training in weaponry.
Long Zhigao wielded a heavy saber. Naturally strong from birth, his strength always surpassed others, making the heavy saber a perfect fit.
Five minutes later, the Li family disciple was defeated, and Long Zhigao was victorious.
Though defeated, the Li family disciple maintained a smile; having defeated two Dragon family members before finally losing, this achievement was considerable, earning him applause from his family upon returning.
Next, the fighting on the stage grew even more intense.
What had been a proper Dragon family competition devolved into a three-on-one platform battle. Every member of the Dragon family was now filled with fighting spirit, striking harder and harder. Injuries began to appear on the platform, and Long Yao became busy, tending to anyone wounded regardless of which side they belonged to.
Finally, Long Haotian called a halt, reiterating safety protocols before the matches resumed.
Lunch was a simple affair of pastries; the ring matches had run non-stop from the start until noon, with the intensity escalating between the two sides. More and more people were eliminated as the fighting progressed.
By about two in the afternoon, nine from the Dragon family had been defeated, while the contingent from the three major families had lost eight. Essentially, all those at the early stage of the Second Layer had competed.
Numerically, the Dragon family appeared to be at a disadvantage, but this was not the full picture.
For the Dragon family to hold out this long while fighting one against three truly affirmed their reputation as the premier family with a thousand-year legacy.
Li Liang and Hu Yan Peng were no longer as relaxed as they had been initially. The strength of the Dragon family was undeniable; individually, they truly could not match the Dragon family. Being the millennium’s first family was not just empty talk.
“Long Qiang, you’re up!”
Long Zheng called another name, and a man in his late twenties jumped onto the martial arts platform. As soon as he stepped up, warm applause erupted.
This was an elite among the younger generation of the Dragon family, even more formidable than Long Feng previously. Watching Long Qiang mount the stage, Zhang Yang silently nodded.
Long Qiang was at the mid-stage of the Second Layer, stronger than those before him. The subsequent bouts would be even fiercer.
“Li Changfeng, you go!”
“Yes!”
Li Liang commanded, and Li Changfeng, seated below the stage, straightened sharply and hurried toward the platform.
He also carried a sword, but it was not wood; it was an iron sword, one that had not been sharpened.
Li Changfeng’s sword technique required a certain sword weight. A wooden sword was too light to fully utilize his strength, so he had specially prepared a heavy iron sword for this competition.
Li Changfeng took the stage, and the disciples at the mid-stage of the Second Layer began their contest.
Long Qiang was not weak; he was already significantly better than Long Feng, only slightly less skilled than Long Sheng. Above Long Sheng was the exceptional disciple, Long Chang.
Unfortunately, Long Chang was over thirty. Even if he weren't, he would long ago have stopped participating in the grand competition; winning first place twice in a row led to disqualification, which was why Long Chang was ineligible.
“Long Qiang!”
“Li Changfeng!”
The two exchanged a fist salute before taking their stances.
Long Qiang also used a weapon; his weapon was also a sword, marking the first sword-versus-sword confrontation of the day.
Zhang Yang, Long Feng, and others on the high platform watched intently, especially Long Feng, who rarely approved of anyone save Li Changfeng, and Long Qiang being his elder brother; he worried about both of them fighting.
The two swords danced continuously on the platform; most spectators could only see blurs of steel, unable to track the swords’ true positions.
Many on the high platform nodded silently. Both practiced fast swordplay, resulting in a true clash of equals.
By age, Long Qiang was slightly older than Li Changfeng, but since the Li family specialized in swordsmanship, they held an advantage in technique that compensated for the age difference.
Furthermore, their skill levels were comparable; predicting the winner was genuinely uncertain.
“Zhang Yang, who do you think will win?”
Long Cheng suddenly asked. He sat closer and could see more clearly, but his cultivation was too low to discern the details of the fight below; thus, he had to ask Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang glanced over and said slowly, “I feel Li Changfeng will win!”
“Li Changfeng?”
Long Feng turned, giving Zhang Yang a surprised look.
The two were currently evenly matched, showing no discernible difference in strength, so he couldn't grasp why Zhang Yang predicted Li Changfeng’s victory.
From his understanding of Zhang Yang, he wouldn't deliberately say that due to personal ties; moreover, Zhang Yang’s relationship with them was far better, so he should be favoring their side.
“Have you not noticed that Li Changfeng is intentionally or unintentionally falling back, while Long Qiang’s offense accelerates as he retreats?”
Zhang Yang nodded gently and spoke again. Long Feng immediately looked back at the platform and finally nodded silently.
Zhang Yang was correct; Li Changfeng was indeed maneuvering this way.
“Long Qiang likely believes he currently holds a slight advantage, though not obvious, he wants to press it. Right now, he’s pushing his momentum to its peak. If this fails to yield results, his momentum will inevitably wane next.”
Zhang Yang spoke slowly, and Long Feng’s eyes widened, growing larger and larger.
As if to validate Zhang Yang’s words, Long Qiang’s aura surged to its zenith, and his attacks became sharper.
At this moment, on the platform, Long Qiang seemed to have suppressed Li Changfeng, victory in sight.
Many people began cheering for Long Qiang, shouting praises. Only Long Haotian and the two elders beside him frowned, for they too sensed something was amiss.
If Long Qiang failed to defeat Li Changfeng with this ultimate strike, he would be the one defeated.
“Ah!”
At the peak of Long Qiang’s offensive, Li Changfeng shouted, and his sword technique suddenly accelerated, squarely meeting Long Qiang’s oncoming assault.
Subsequently, his offense began to strengthen, while Long Qiang’s waned. Due to this inverse relationship, the situation swiftly reversed, and the one being suppressed became Long Qiang.
Moreover, Long Qiang had no avenue left for recovery.
“Long Qiang is defeated,” Zhang Yang sighed softly. If Long Qiang hadn't been so eager for a quick victory, fighting steadily might not have led to such a rapid defeat, or perhaps there might have been a chance to win.
His strength and Li Changfeng’s were evenly matched.
Unfortunately, he fell right into Li Changfeng’s trap from the start. Since Li Changfeng dared to let him build up momentum, he must have had a countermeasure ready; once that counter was weathered, the victor would surely be him.
Not long after Zhang Yang finished speaking, Li Changfeng forced Long Qiang to the edge of the platform. With no retreat left, Long Qiang made a final desperate effort but failed, ultimately being forced off the platform by Li Changfeng.
Li Changfeng won this bout.
This meant the Dragon family had now lost ten members, while the three major families still had eight. The situation looked overwhelmingly favorable, and many smiles grew wider.
“Long Sheng, you go!”
Long Zheng’s face was ashen. He had intended for Long Qiang to last a few more rounds, not be defeated so quickly.
The remaining disciples were inferior to Long Qiang; sending them up would only lead to further humiliation, better to not send them at all. He now had no choice but to call upon Long Sheng, the most outstanding and strongest among the current younger generation, earlier than planned.
The smiles of Li Liang, Hu Yan Peng, and the others intensified.
They understood the Dragon family’s situation well: defeating Long Sheng meant securing victory in this competition, as no one remaining could compare to him.
Defeating Long Sheng for an absolute victory—this was what occupied their minds.
On the high platform, a man in his late twenties stood up. He appeared quite sturdy, taller than the rest, nearly one-ninety—similar to Hu Xin, or as Zhang Yang liked to put it, a gentle giant.
He did not walk quickly, unlike those before who hurried over.
On the martial arts stage, he did not leap up directly but ascended step by step. No one laughed at his measured pace; in fact, his movements imparted a sense of gravitas to the spectators.
“Li Changfeng is going to lose.”
Zhang Yang smiled faintly and took a drink of the fruit wine on the table. The wine was low in alcohol, sweet, and quite excellent.
“How do you know?” Long Feng turned back, asking in surprise.
“I just feel it.”
Zhang Yang smiled, pursing his lips. The reason he predicted Li Changfeng’s loss was that Long Sheng had already achieved a breakthrough; his cultivation was at the late stage of the Second Layer.
Late stage versus mid-stage of the Second Layer meant a high probability of victory.
He looked as if he had only recently broken through, his power not yet quite matching Long Feng’s, but certainly enough to deal with Li Changfeng, who had just finished a tough fight and expended considerable energy defeating Long Qiang.
Long Feng paused, then said reluctantly after a moment, “I hope so.”
He hadn't expected Zhang Yang to give him an answer based on a 'feeling,' which sometimes proved accurate but sometimes didn't—it felt like saying nothing at all.
“I am Li Changfeng.”
Li Changfeng saluted the newly arrived Long Sheng with a fist gesture, a sense of wariness stirring within him.
This man gave him an unusual feeling. Li Changfeng was never careless; he gave his full effort against any opponent.
“Long Sheng, you are not my match. Send someone else.”
Long Sheng nodded gently, then stood still. Li Changfeng paused, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face.
“Whether I’m your match or not, we’ll know after we fight!”
After Long Zheng announced the start, Li Changfeng shouted and lunged forward with his sword. Long Sheng carried no weapon, but his hands were covered in gloves—gloves that were clearly not ordinary items.
He thrust his sword out, but only halfway, before Long Sheng caught it firmly in his hand.
After that, Li Changfeng exerted every ounce of strength he possessed but could not pull his sword free. When Long Sheng’s other fist neared his close range, he had no choice but to retract his sword and fall back. (To be continued...)